Turkish private sector’s external debt amounts $169 billion as of end-2021

The Turkish private sector's outstanding foreign loans amounted to $169.4 billion as of the end of 2021, the country's Central Bank announced on Feb. 16. "Private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad recorded $169.4 billion as of December," the bank said in a statement, adding that the figure had decreased by $3.6 billion from the end of December 2020. The short-term loans -- excluding trade credits -- of the sector received from abroad amounted to $7.8 billion, down $1.8 billion from a year ago. Some 64%, or $5 billion, of short-term loans consisted of the liabilities of financial institutions, the bank added. Broken down by currency, the majority of Turkiye's short-term credit, 37.7%, was in euros, while 37.8% was in US dollars, 19.7% in Turkish liras, and 4.8% in other currencies.

Long-term external loans at $161.6B

The private sector's long-term foreign debts fell $1.8 billion to $161.6 billion in the same period. "Regarding the currency composition, of the total long-term loans, 63.0% consists of USD, 33.5% consists of Euro, 1.7% consists of Turkish lira and 1.8% consists of other currencies," it said. The private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad, based on a remaining maturity basis, point to principal repayments of $42.5 billion for the next 12 months by the end of December 2021.​​​​​​​